ISSSource – Power Grid Compromise

In what should be a surprise to no one: A series of attacks compromised energy companies in the United States and Europe which led to bad guys gaining access to grid operations to the point where they could flip the switch on power.

A report released by Symantec Wednesday revealed attacks by a group it is calling Dragonfly 2.0, which it said targeted dozens of energy companies since 2015.

In more than 20 cases, Symantec said attackers gained access to the target companies’ networks. At U.S. power firms and at least one company in Turkey their forensic analysis found the hackers obtained what they call operational access. That would mean control of the interfaces power company engineers use to send actual commands to equipment like circuit breakers, giving them the ability to stop the flow of electricity into U.S. homes and businesses.